


Midnight Tears, Midnight Smiles

by mariekjepower



Series: Fjorester One Shots [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariekjepower/pseuds/mariekjepower
Summary: [Spoilers for 105]Jester sighs. “Yes. No. Sort of.” Another sigh. She pulls back, wiping her eyes again and keeping her eyes down a bit.Sometimes you need to talk to someone with all your friends. Sometimes it's enough to just be their shoulder to cry on.
Relationships: Fjord/Jester Lavorre
Series: Fjorester One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884970
Comments: 11
Kudos: 93





	Midnight Tears, Midnight Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> I got inspired by people rambling about Fjorester and had to get this out of my head. Always keep rambling about things you enjoy.

Fjord wakes at the sound of footsteps close by. He frowns, he’s still so tired. _Too early,_ he thinks. Turning around Fjord tries to settle back into sleep, but then realizes what woke him. With a quiet yawn he rubs his eyes and looks around in the dark dome. It’s still up, which means less then eight hours since it went up, less than seven since they went to sleep on the ship, all of them very tired and hurting from the fight with Vokodo.

Jester is not there. Her bedroll is empty. Instead there are sounds above him, those of someone walking on the deck of the Eden's Horizon. Of course it is Jester up there, but he’s still worried. It’s the middle of the night, or at least feels like it.

As quietly as he can he stands up and scans the group. Everyone else is still asleep. Still here. They’re all safe and he sighs with relief, flashes from the earlier battle going through his head. Beau and Caduceus being gone for a moment. Yasha losing control of her actions once again. Jester, being so scared after succeeding on her spell, scared that she couldn’t keep Vokodo away, scared that maybe she shouldn’t keep him away…

With a quick shake of his head – _they’re fine, they’re all fine_ – Fjord softly steps out of the bubble and moves to the deck of the ship. It’s dark, darker than the night sky, here in this cave. Other than the sound of the water rushing by in front of the cave, it’s quiet. No, not completely. He hears Jester before he sees her. Her voice is soft, but clearly agitated. Fjord moves in the direction of her voice, but stops once he sees her. Jester is talking, seemingly to thin air, at the front of the ship. Which means she’s probably talking to the Traveller. She’s talking, and drawing, doesn’t seem to have noticed Fjord at all.

He holds back for a moment. He doesn’t really want to, but if she’s working things out with the Traveller, that’s a good thing, right? He leans against the mast and waits. It’s just far enough away that while can hear her talk, he can’t make out the words Jester is saying. Fjord probably should go back down, give them some privacy. But he’s not going to. Jester had been too distressed in their earlier talk for him to just leave her alone with the Traveller.

Fjord doesn’t know how long he stands there. It might be minutes, it might be half an hour. He’s simply keeping watch over Jester, making sure she’s safe. He’s still so, so tired, but he refuses to let her deal with this alone, even if she doesn’t know he’s there. Fjord will stand guard as long as is needed.

Watching Jester draw and talk is kind of mesmerising, Fjord finds. One moment she’s sliding her pencil over the paper, the next she’s gesturing wildly, talking animated about something. For a moment, it brings a smile to his face, seeing Jester being so… Jester. It’s her. Then Jester drops her pencil, pushes her sketchbook of her lap with a frustrated sound and start crying.

Before his mind has caught up to what his body is doing Fjord is already halfway to Jester, rushing up the few steps to the front. Jester looks up, startled, as he kneels down next to her. His arms hover awkwardly for a moment, not sure if touching her is appropriate, is wanted. She would give someone a hug, no questions asked, but she’s tried to be so strong in front of them…

He opens his arms and waits, asking without words if she wants a hug. Already Fjord can see her trying to compose herself, wiping at her face and sniffing softly, but as Jester looks up to him, sees his open arms, her face crumbles and she moves into the waiting hug.

Fjord just holds her. One arm wrapped around her, one softly petting her hair, like he has seen Jester do to others in distress before, and hopes it helps. He’s not good at this. Talking he can do, most of the time. But crying… He’s not sure what else he can do. Maybe he should have woken Caduceus instead.

No. Fjord is her friend. He’s not just going to be there when Jester is happy and smiling and pranking people, he’s also there for her when she’s not feeling well.

“Oh Jessie,” he whispers, tightening his arms for a second. In response she tightens hers as well for a bit. Slowly but surely her sobs lessen. She’s still feels a bit shaky and is sniffing, but her shoulders stop shaking. She doesn’t stop leaning against Fjord though, so he keeps his arms around her, a bit looser so she can go if she wants to, giving her the choice.

“Did you talk to the Traveller?” he asks softly, being a bit hesitant to break the silence.

Jester sighs. “Yes. No. Sort of.” Another sigh. She pulls back, wiping her eyes again and keeping her eyes down a bit.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, just-“

“No, I just…” She fidgets a bit with her sleeves, looking around at the ground. Her gaze stays on her sketchbook for a few moments, before turning away from it. Jester stays silent for a while longer. Fjord watches as she more then once opens her mouth to start speaking, before closing them again. The frown is back.

“I tried to talk to him,” Jester then blurts out suddenly. “I tried to talk to him like I used to. Just talking and sketching and him coming to me and talking about everything going on for a while, you know? But these days he doesn’t come when I do that, he only comes when I use magic to call him. Which, you know, I know he’s busy and all with all these followers that are coming here for Traveller Con and that he has to answer to them while they are traveling. The sea is much more dangerous than us being in here, especially now that Vokodo is gone. But he doesn’t come, even when it’s late and most people would be asleep he doesn’t come to talk.” She sniffs a bit more, looking up at him with more tears in her eyes. “I miss him. I know I’m not as lonely as I was back before I met all you guys, but… He’s my first friend, you know? I don’t want to lose him, even if it feels like we’re growing apart.”

Fjord can’t help but put an arm back around her shoulder, pulling her in a bit. Jester lets him. “I won’t pretend that I actually know what it feels like. I mean, I get worrying about where you stand in your relationship with others, both normal people and those a bit more powerful… But what you’ve shared with him is special in a way most people don’t ever get to experience.” Which is probably a good thing, though he will not tell her that. “Just remember what Veth said. Friends call you out on it if you’re doing bad things, or, as the case may be, call you out on being a shitty friend. That’s what it sounds like to me, that he’s been a shitty friend to you. And you deserve much better than that, Jester. You’re an amazing person. If he doesn’t appreciate that, that’s on him.”

“Thank you, Fjord,” Jester says with a voice much too timid for her. He gives her a soft squeeze and points at her sketchbook.

“May I see what you were working on?”

“Oh, uh. Sure.” Jester quickly scrambles up to grab it, leaving his side suddenly a bit cold. Before Fjord can think too much about it, she’s back, sitting herself right where she was, against him. He smiles a bit and summons the Star Razor, giving her some light as she quickly goes through the sketchbook. She opens up on one of the things she did today, a drawing of Caduceus wrapped in Caleb’s magical cat claw, but one of the claws is stretched out and flipping off Vokodo getting disintegrated on the next page. He lets out a small chuckle, and Jester gives him a little smile in return. She turns over the page, which show sketches of the flashes they all saw earlier, of that weird city. Then Jester picks up the book, turning it away from him and paging through it some more.

“Those are really good, Jester,” Fjord tells her and when she looks up, there is an actual, true Jester smile on her face. She wiggles happily in place for a second, her tail going into a swing that shows she’s pleased about something.

“Thanks. Look at this one.” Jester places the book in his lap and looks up to him with an expectant look. The drawing is of the moment were Veth became herself again. Veth looks to almost glow in the middle of the page. Around it is a mess. The whole of the group covered from head to toe in mud and pieces of the bathtub are sticking from the walls. They all look disgusting and _disgusted_ and Fjord can’t help but chuckle at the faces she gave them all. She turns some more pages, showing all kinds of ridiculous things and he can’t hold back his laughter at it all. Jester beams at his reaction and he squeezes her shoulder.

“See, this? This is you. You always see the fun in things, and make the world brighter and happier for everyone around you.” He takes a deep breath, calming down a bit, but smile still on his face. “We’re all so glad you’re in our lives. I am happy you’re in my life. And whatever happens in the coming day, I’m right here with you. Whatever you need, just let me know, okay?”

“Okay.” Jester’s giggles have died down as well, but she does look happier than before. Then she lets out a soft yawn, which makes Fjord yawn in turn. “I think we need some more sleep.”

“I guess so,” Fjord agrees, though neither of them moves right away. She’s still looking up at him, her eyes sparkling a bit in the light his sword gives off. It takes his breath away for a moment. He wants to… But it’s not the right time. Not while she has so much to deal with. He does lean in, and he does notice her breath catching for a bit too – _by Melora does he notice_ – but simply places a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Let’s go,” he whispers, standing up and giving her a hand. And if she keeps holding onto his hand as they make their way back down to the dome? Well, no one but them has to know.


End file.
